Sunandini Verma: Self Advocacy & Knowing Your Worth
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The YWiB Toronto team recently announced our next Networking & Learn event which will be held on November 28th! This month’s topic is one of great importance to our team and the larger YWiB community; self advocacy. Our two speakers, Sunandini Verma and Schekina Israel, have lots to say about self-advocacy and how it’s impacted their careers.
Read more about our other speaker, Schekina Israel, here.
Sunandini is an experienced entrepreneur who helps other brands find their voice through marketing and app development. She’s also used this skill to make big moves in her own professional life. We interviewed Sunandini to learn a bit more about her approach to self-advocacy. Here’s what she had to say;
On your website, you say that throughout your career you have "followed (then unfollowed) many dreams". We love that! Can you tell us a bit more about how you were able to make those big changes?
I have always been the type of person who wants to do it all. I believe you can learn pretty much anything, so it's been very challenging for me to pace myself in taking steps to strategically do what I need to do, instead of doing it all. I started my first business at 8, I used to sell bumper stickers and give proceeds to charity. When I was younger, I wanted to act, but the industry is not for me. I felt I would at some point have to compromise my beliefs to get the next role, and the next role. I like to be in control of my environment and surroundings. I then started a dropshipping business for jackets before my agency… failed miserably! But, I know the ins and outs of dropshipping because of that. Through the years, there are many opportunities I have chosen to pursue, and some succeed and some fail.
“Every single dream I followed, helped me prepare for the next business, and succeed at it.”
Everything in life is an accumulation of your efforts and your knowledge. With my experience in marketing and dropshipping, I am now able to run my ecomm business and marketing business simultaneously and smoothly.
What does "self-advocacy" mean to you?
Self-advocacy for me is to know who you are, and stand up for it. It's important for me to be someone who knows who I am and where I stand on any subject. To me, my ability to be clear and confident on what I deserve from all aspects of my life, defines self-advocacy. I know my skillset, my team’s competency, the quality of the final products we bring to the table, and the diligence which goes into each project we work on. In whatever you do, you have to know your own greatness in it, and give it your 150%.
In your marketing and app development business, I'm sure you occasionally work with young women entrepreneurs. If you could give these clients (and the YWiB community) one piece of advice about self-advocacy, what would it be?
Know your worth- not in a delusional way. Clearly know which skills you're really good at, average, and ones that need improvement. Be as honest with yourself as possible and create your service offerings around that which you're good at. It's even more important to focus on the skills that need improvement, and learn to work on those. In some cases, your product or service don't need to necessarily sell only what you're good at, but your team should be the best in the game, at whatever it is you're selling, while you as the owner of your business, should be focused on your leadership skills. For example, I can't code- but my team is made up of the best, hand-picked developers I could find. What I can do is sell, manage, lead, create unique marketing strategies, and innovate. So, I work closely with my technical team to provide the creative input and strategic component of our clients needs, and to create the best possible outcome.
Closing Thought?
Know your worth and charge accordingly. Don't take clients just because you need the money, take clients that know your worth, and you will attract more of that. Don't act from desperation, because when you know what you deserve, you get exactly that.